Enroll in Missoula Schools

The Story Behind the "M"

The "M" is 620 feet above the Missoula Valley floor. It is 125' feet long and 100' feet wide. University of Montana forestry students cut the switchbacks into the side of the hill in the early 1900's. The first "M" was assembled out of whitewashed rocks in 1909, and given a fresh coat of paint by freshmen every year, until 1968, when all those rocks were cemented together with concrete.

Archive for the ‘Enroll in Missoula Schools’ Category

Aug
24

Summer Feet

By ELKE GOVERTSEN. Say it ain’t so… summer is, gulp, over? But I don’t have my summer feet yet.... more

Jul
19

Camp Elke

By ELKE GOVERTSEN. When I was in college, my dream job was to be a camp director. Perhaps it still is. I was MADE for camp. One thing I never thought of was the fact that somewhere other than camp, there was ma... more

Jun
22

Get Outta Town…

By ELKE GOVERTSEN. Sometimes the very best way to love a place is to get the heck outta there. This is consistently the case for me with Missoula.... more

Jun
02

Norman’s Got Nothing on Missoula

By ELKE GOVERTSEN. The nostalgia of our town is also its future. The ability to take people back to their childhoods, to a time when the grasses were hip-height and adventure called from right outside your door... more

May
19

Getting Schooled

By ELKE GOVERTSEN. About this time every year I start getting calls. Worried calls. Trying to make the right choice calls. Trying to not make the wrong choice calls. Calls from terrified, about to start kinderg... more

Jul
31

Missoula History

The first inhabitants of the Missoula area were Native Americans from the Salish tribe. They called the area “Nemissoolatakoo,” which translates roughly to “river of ambush," and eventually gave rise to... more